Traction engine



V. V. PEONE.

TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8. 1920.

l ,%1 6,3790 Patentm May 116, 11922...

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V. V. PEONE.

TRAVC'HON ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8. 1920.

Patented May 16, 1922.

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V. V. PEONE.

TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1920.

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ACTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 8, 1920. Serial No. 406,993.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, VALLEY VIRGIL PEoNE, a citizen of the United States,residin at Chewelah, in the county of Stevens and tate of Washington,have invented a new and useful Traction Engine, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention has reference to improvements in traction engines and itconsists essentially in the peculiar features of construction and novelcombination of parts fully explained in the following detaileddescription, specifically pointed out in the appended claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved construction of tractionengine.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the front portion thereof, the friction.pinions that control the shifting of the treads to the raised andlowered positions being shown out of gear with the main friction ordriving wheel.

Figure 3 is a detail plan, one of the friction pinions being shown inoperative connection With the driving wheel.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 44 on Figure 5-.

Figure 5 is a transverse section of my improved traction engine, takenon the line 55 on Figure 1. a

Figure 6' is a detail sectional view hereinafter referred to.

A serious fault in traction engines of the endless track type is theexcessive power loss while making turns, namely by reason of thetendency of the treads sliding or skidding around, when turning, itbeing well known to those skilled in the art to which my inventionrelates, that, when swerving from a straight course, there is caused askidding of one or the other of the endless trackways, depending uponthe direction of the swinging movement, thereb materially reducing thetraction fpower o the engine.

Again, in some orms of tractor engines of the endless track type,thedirect stresses or reversal of stresses are frequently such that theyresult in breaking and disarrangement of the parts and at inconvenienttimes.

My invention primarily. has for its object to provide an improvedconstruction of trac-- tion engine of the type before mentioned, in

which the parts are more especially designed and cooperatively arrangedfor being driven with the ordinary difierential or transmission gears,such as are used in theordinary engine driventractor, whereby skiddingaction or dragglng of the endless track members 1s prevented and whichalso provides for making a quicker turn in a shorter space than hasheretofore been done and, at the same time, dispensing with the need ofdrive Patented May s, was.

gearing such as is used on the common types of tractor engines now inuse.

Referringagain to the drawin in which llke numerals indicate like partsnf'all of the figures, 1-1 designates the horizontal or bed beams of theframe or chassis.

In my construction, the forward ends of thebeams 1 are joined by a crossbeam 2 on which, midway its ends, is mounted a turn table or member 3that is joined with the beam 2 by a king or stud bolt t that'is fixedlyconnected with the turn table 3 and journals in a vertical bearingaperture 2* in the crossbeam 2, with the upper end thereof shaped forreceiving a, suitable turning crank 4,

which, in practice, is connected with any suitends are secured to the Ibeams 1 by lag bolts 8 8, as shown in the detail view Figure 6 and, ateach end, the said cross beam 7 is equipped with a pocket or thrustbearing 99, each of which has a pocket or concavity --9O on the u perface that constitutes the seat or bearing or the lower end 11 of alifting or jack screw 10, the upper ends of which engage upper thrust orpocket bearing castings 1212, secured one on each of the opposite endsof a cross head or bea'm'13 that is bolted down to a pair of uprights1414 which constitute guides for a lifter beam, the purpose of whichwill presently appear.

The lower ends of the uprights 14-14 are supported upon and bolted tothe cross'beam .bearings has a pocket or seat, the said two bearings16-16 being oppositely disi 9 ing-beam, and the saidbeam,,in the pracior track member.

. said worm gears posed for. receiving the end journals of a drivenshaft 17 to which motion is imparted, at desired times, in eitherdirection, from the motor engine 18.

' By referrin now more particularly to Figure 2, it will be observedthat the engine shaft carries a fly wheel, which, in my construction oftractor engine, constitutes a main friction drive 20, it beingbevelledand so disposed with respect to the driven shaft 17, thatitcooperates with a pair of oppositely disposed friction clutch pinions19-19 that slidably engage but are rotatable with the shaft 17, it beingunderstood that, when one of the pinions 19 is moved into gear with themain drive 20, the shaft 17 isv driven in one direction and, when theother one of the said pinions 19 is thrown 4 into mesh with the main oren ine drive 20, the first mentioned pinion belng out of.

mesh, the shaft is driven in opposite direc tion, the reason forwhichwill presently appear. v

21 designates a cross or foot bar that is located adjacent the driversseat and is secured, at its ends, to the top of the opposite side beam1.

On the bar 21 is pivotally mounted a pair of foot levers 22-22, each ofwhich joins with an individual connecting-rod23, the rod, at one side,pivotally joining with a bevelled crank lever 24, which includes astraddle member 25 that takes into the grooved collar 26 on the clutchpinion 19 at the adjacent end of the shaft 17, the other rod 23 bemglikewise connected with the d other clutch pinion 19, as shown, and thefoot controlled devices are so arranged that the drlver may'readilyshift either of the pinions 19 into mesh with the main dri-ve 20 or moveeither of the pinions out of mesh with the said main drive, when it isdeslred to stop adjustment of the endless tread At each of the oppositeends, the driven shaft 17 has a worm gear 27-27 and the 27-27 each" meshwith a worm gear 28 mounted upon anadjacent ack screw, the worm gearconnections joinng the ack screws and the engine drive beinglocated atthe lower end of each of the sa1d ack screws, as is best shown in Figure2.

30-30 designate stay. braces 'that'take over the upper-bearings for thejack screws and extend lengthwise of the beams -1 and are bolted, attheir ends, to the said beams. as shown.

31; denotes a supplemental front I-be'am, hereinafter termed the tractortreads lifttical adjustment of the parts, is guided in its up and downmovements by the uprights 14-14, before mentioned, upon which the beam31 rides in its up and down movement, such engagement of the beam andthe up connection 0 ri hts bein rovided for by the peculiar g f the beamwith the endless treads,,a's presently explained. v

The lifter beam 31 is prov1ded with a pair of screw nuts 32-32, one foreach ack screw, which latter Work through the said nuts 32 for raisingand lOWQlflIlg the beams according to the directlon' or motion 1mpartedto the said jack screw. At the outer ends, the beam 31 1s long1-tudinally recessed on the under side, as at 33-33, and in each of thesaid recesses 33 is mounted a horizontal shaft or rod 34-34, on each ofwhich is endently and swingably suspended a pair 0 hangers 35-35 betweenwhich the upper ends of the opposite treads are sustained, I v, a I

Eachof the treads referredto cons sts of an endless track comprising aseries of flexibly connected members 37 that pass over front and rearpolygonal disks 38-39, the rear ones 39 of which are mounted on atransverse rear axle 39 which is ournaled in bearin s 39 pendent fromthe under side of the si e beams 1-1, as is clearly shown in Figures 1and 5 of the drawings.

The portions of the axle 39 that pro ect beyondthe pendent bearings 39constitute the rear supports for side members 42 between which rollerbearings 43-43 are supported and over which disappear and lowerslackportions of the fiexibleendless track 37 pass, as is clearlyillustrated in Figure 1. The up er or front ends of the frame or sidemam ers 42-42 are supported by inividua-l cross rods 34, which rods aremounted on the opposite ends of the llfter beam 31, as is best shown inFigure 5, by reference to which it will be seenin each an of hangers 35,suspended from the re s 34, is

journaled a short shaft 38 and on each shaft 38 is mounted afront-polyagonal disk 38 over whichthe endless track passes.

To prevent slippin the steering wheel is' formed with an annu ar flange43, as shown.

From the foregoin description taken 1n connection with the. drawings,the complete construction, the manner in whichthe parts may be adjustedand the advantages of my invention will be readily apparent to thosefamiliar with the making and using of ma chines of the ty'e described.

To lift the end ess tread, one of the clutch pinions 19, depending onthe direction in which the tractor may be traveling, through the mediumof the foot controlled devices, is moved into mesh with the main drive20, and thereby imparts rotation to the [shaft 17 and through the wormgears By flexibly supporting the front end of the endless tread carryingframe from the lifting beam ,31, as stated and shown, binding of thesaid front ends of the endless tread carrying frame is avoided. a

The front or steering 'wheel, which constitutes the forward support forthe tractor, acts to avoid slipping, when steering, and thereby doesaway wlth the dangerof'the tread sliding around.

Furthermore, by providing for lifting practically the entire treadsurface of the endless treads, other than their rear end supports, theentire tractor can be turned around much quicker and with greater easeand in much Shorterspace than is possible with the ordinary types ofengine tractors now in general use. 1

While the detailed arrangement of the parts, as shown and described,presents a practical and preferred construction of my invention, it isto be understood that I do .not confine myself to the exact detailed ar-'rangement shown and described, as the said parts mentioned may bevaried or modified to suit the particular condition that may be requiredin a complete development of my improved tractor engine, withoutdeparting from my invention as set out in the ap ended claims;

Vhat I claim is 1. In an-engine equipped tractor of the characterdescribed, the combination with the tractor frame, the said frameincluding a bottom cross beam, uprights rigidly mounted on the saidbottom cross beam and a cross head rigidly sustained on the upper endsof the said uprights; of a pair of oppositely disposed vertical jackscrews one for eac side of the machine whose lower ends travel 'in thebottom cross beam and whose upper ends travel in the cross head, anendless track mechanism located at each side of the tractor frame, meansfor mounting the rear end of the tractor frame and the endless treads sothat the rear ends of the treads constitute the rear support for thetractor frame, a rotary support for the front end of each endless tread,mechanism on the tractor for raising and lowering the front ends of theendless treads, the said mechanism including a cross beam located abovethe tractor frame, the said beam having int ern'ally threaded bearingsfor engaging the ack screws, and guide apertures for engaging the fixedu rights and power transmission operable rom-the engine and includingdrive gears engaginglthe jack screws for applying rotatlon to t e saidscrews for M1 mg and lowering the cross beam and said cross beam thatsustain the front ends 7 of the endless treads at their respective ends.

2. In an engine equipped tractor of the character described, whereinis'provided a main frame, a steering wheel support at the front of themain frame and an axle provided with disks at the rear ofthe frame,beams pivoted to saidaxle andextending forwardly at each side of themain frame, disks carried by said beams and an endless tractor treadpassed around the ast named disks and the first named disks; means forraising and lowering the front ends of said beams, said means comprisingvertical standards mounted on the main frame, a cross head connectingsaid standards, screws journaled inbearings on the main frame and in'the cross head, a vertically adjustable cross beam slidable on saidstandards and character described, wherein is provided a main frame, asteering wheel support at the frontofthe main frame and an axle providedwith disks at the rear of the frame, beams pivoted to said axle andextending forwardly at each side of the main frame,

-disks carried by said beams and an endless tractor tread passed aroundthe last named disks and the first named disks, a .meansfor raising andlowering the frontends of said beams, said means comprising vertical;

h standards mounted on the main frame, a

cross head connecting said standards, screws journaled in bearings onthe main frame and in the cross head, a vertically adjustable cross beamslidable on said standards and engaged by said screws, links connectingsaid cross beam with said pivoted beams whereby as said cross beam israised and lowered, said pivoted beams will be raised and lowered, andengine driven means connected with said screws for actuating the same,

cones into and out of engagement with said disks for the purposedescribed;

VALL Y vrncin 'PEONE.

said engine 7 driven means comprismg a worm shaft,.

